A Crime of Passion
by The Lost Keyblade Master
Summary: The streets of Daggerfall have become a virtual warzone. With its first line of defense compromised, and one of its most feared men dead, will the efforts of an unlikely alliance be enough to prevent the devastation of Tamriel's most peaceful province?
_4E 181_

The capitol of High Rock had always been a place of opportunity. The chance for action, adventure, and excitement had always been more than enough to bring eager, would-be heroes out of their homes with the hopes of finding a place in the history books. However, recently most of those enthusiastic men and women spent their days locked away in their homes, keeping watch over the few possessions that managed to survive the economy. The courage that inspired them to pursue the lives they dreamed of had been taken by the world's harsh reality and on this day, Alderic Delacroix discovered that very reality in the form of the three men lying dead at his feet.

"Fuck," he heard one of his superior's growl as he examined the frostbitten corpses in the center of the room.

Alderic was no stranger to death, ever since that monster showed up it was all he had seen, but never like this. Each man had been stripped completely naked and the shackles around their wrists and ankles attested to the fact that there had been no fight; only slaughter. The City Guard was supposed to stop these kinds of things from happening, if that were true why were these men dead, why hadn't they been their when they were needed, why couldn't they protect their home?

The sound of the captain's voice snapped him from his stupor as he confirmed what everyone already suspected.

"Enzo," he muttered under his breathe to no one's surprise.

The man lying in the center was a known drug lord and one of Enzo's top competitors. The shards of melting ice imbedded in his throat made it clear that he had gotten the worst of it, criminal or not, Alderic knew that no one deserved what this man had endured. However, as he turned and saw the apathetic expressions on the faces of his comrades, he realized that his was not an opinion shared by everyone.

"Good riddance, to bad rubbish," commented Raoul, one of the newer members as he stared at the dead men with malice.

Alderic briefly wondered who he had lost before his captain's voice brought him back from his thoughts for the second time that day.

"Shut up," he snapped as he unsheathed his sword and freed the dead men from their shackles, "look at these men and tell me something good about what you see," he growled at the new recruit, suddenly speechless. "The one in the middle is Jourdain Beumont, he's been a thorn in our sides since before Enzo was even a name on anyone lips, now look at him, we'll be lucky if this doesn't start a fucking war."

"Too late," Alderic thought, the streets of Daggerfall had already become a virtual warzone and with the death of one its most feared men, things would only get worse. No one would be safe and with that thought his mind drifted to Jeanine. She was out there with no one but a sellsword to protect her. "It should be me," he thought solemnly as he helped his comrades clean the crime scene.

Elsewhere...

"Now tell me your time here hasn't improved since you met me," the Breton thief teased as she looted the dead bandit.

Though he wasn't proud admitting it, Rashad had to agree. Ever since they had formed their little alliance, the good they had done in their fight against Enzo's men had made a noticeable change. "Wonderfully," he remarked as his cleaned the blood from his sword. "So, where to now?" he asked, having finished his task.

Jeanine collected the last of the bandit's gold, and turned to face the young mercenary she had been traveling with for the last few weeks. "I think that's enough for today, let's get out of here," she replied as she sheathed her daggers and headed towards the exit. As she turned to leave she faintly heard the assailant she had blinded whimpering in the corner. "I'm sorry," she thought to herself before she could help it. The maimed, freckled-faced girl looked several years younger she herself. Briefly, she felt tempted to finish the job but she couldn't. "I'm no murderer," she thought as Rashad stood to follow her out of the pillaged skooma den.

 _The Silver Lion (Tavern)_

"Here's to a good raid," Jeanine smiled raising her tankard. After a few drinks, the memories of her day began to fade, and she felt her good mood returning. The stoic Redguard followed suit and finished his ale in silence. "I may as well be here by myself," Jeanine mused as she examined the tavern's colorful patrons. She saw several scantily-clad whores entertaining a member of the City Guard not so subtlety in the corner. "Daggerfall's finest, my arse," she mumbled before finishing the rest of her drink. With one exception, there was little love lost between her and any member of law enforcement, but this was too much. Corpses filled the streets and the hypocrites the people put their faith in were basically worthless. That's why she couldn't afford to get discouraged, that's why she had to keep moving.

"Something on your mind?" Rashad asked when he noticed the concerned look on her face.

Although, he wasn't a conversationalist by any stretch of the imagination, during her time traveling with him she learned that before coming to Daggerfall, he had seen some action in The Great War. The thought of the ruined state of Hammerfell brought back the apprehension she felt for her own home, as well as feelings of empathy for this man tasked with protecting her.

"I'm okay," she lied as convincingly as possible.

The look on his face told her that he was tempted to call her bluff, but thankfully decided against it. "Well since that's all for today, I think I'll get some rest," he said as he stood and payed for their drinks. "I'll see you in the morning," he told her before ascending the stairs of their unofficial base of operations.

"Goodnight," she replied as she watched him leave, wondering if they could make a difference.

 _A/N: The story and characters are mine but I do not own The Elder Scroll series._

 _Please review_


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